Missouri Life June 2023

the quality-controlled shipment of dressed beef, the east ern meat packers realized the benefits of having plants in Kansas City that could directly receive the cattle, rather than paying the high charges to have them shipped east for processing. The cattle could be slaughtered, dressed, and packaged for shipment, all within the Kansas City complex. Philip Armour, followed by Swift, Wilson, and Cudahy—the so-called “Big Four”—built packing plants, and the Stockyards burgeoned. The growth of the Kansas City Stockyards was nothing short of phenomenal. The population, which stood at fewer than 5,000 residents in 1860, exploded with the coming of the Stockyards and the city’s development as a major transportation hub. By the turn of the century, Kansas City was home to around 160,000 people. By the end of World War I, the Stockyards were penning nearly 500,000 head of cattle in a single month. In addition to the cattle, the yards also contained hogs, horses, and sheep. In all, more than 3.3 million animals were penned in the yards during the fall of 1918. By this time, there were 34 railroads servicing Kansas City’s meat indus try, carrying animals into the city and dressed beef out. The yards occupied 230 acres, containing pens, packing plants, and related businesses. By this time, the Kansas City Stockyards, known familiarly as “Cowtown,” was second only to Chicago as the largest meat processing center in the country, employing 20,000 workers, which was around 70 percent of Kansas City’s entire work force. Working conditions for many of these laborers was poor, however, and the pay was low. Starting in the 1890s and continuing well into the 20th century, the plants were rocked by a series of worker strikes, walk outs, and sit-downs, encouraged and supported by the arrival of the unions. For decades, the two sides—labor and management—worked to find a tenable solution to the age-old problem. There were other issues besides labor relations. As it turned out, the location was prone to flooding, and in 1917, a fire raged through the yards. Nonetheless, business continued apace until late 1991, when the last cow was auctioned off. According to The Kansas City Star , rising costs and “changing agricultural marketing patterns” were the reasons the Kansas City Stockyards was shuttered after a 120-year run. In its day, the enterprise was legendary and

a leader in the process of putting meat on America’s tables. Today, the Stockyards District thrives with galleries, artists’ studios, businesses, and restaurants. One of the most impressive structures is the renovated Livestock Exchange Building, which houses dozens of businesses and studios and perhaps a ghost or two from the days when Kansas City truly earned the name Cowtown. The West Bottoms Revival Kansas City’s West Bottoms District is haunted—or at least it offers three haunted houses that thrill visitors every fall. There’s the Macabre Cinema, the Edge of Hell, and the largest of them all: The Beast. To say that the re-invented West Bottoms area of Kansas City is thriving is to grossly understate; it is, in fact, burgeoning. West Bottoms offers visitors plenty of entertainment options, from the Boulevardia Street Festival

in June (happening June 15 and 16 this year) to the First Friday Weekends throughout the year, the Bottoms Car Shows, and the Mardi Gras 5K Run. The neighborhood boasts an array of shops, galleries, restaurants, and antiques emporia. Many, if not most, are housed in buildings from another era. Rather

The revived West Bottoms area caters to shoppers and art lovers.

than razing the area’s classic 150-year-old warehouses and factories, their owners have opted to restore and revitalize them. These Victorian survivors line the streets, offering a heady combination of old and new. The Rumely Event Space is a perfect example. Located in the West Bottom’s 12th Street Bridge district, it was constructed in the 1880s as the Advance-Rumely Thresher Company. It recently underwent two years of renovation that, according to the venue’s website, “make it a seamless combination of historic architecture with modern convenience and enduring elegance.” The West Bottoms has come a long way from its 1870 beginnings as a livestock pen to its present state. The renovation began in the early 1990s, and with a combination of government and private funding, it has become a destination worth the drive.

At its height, the expansive Kansas City Stockyards employed 70 percent of the city’s workers.

MCBRIDE MEDIA & MARKETING, KANSAS CITY STOCKYARDS

47 / JUNE 2023